It's Tricky
by Peppermint Schnapps
Summary: A story about the SSX Tricky League, and what invariably comes to pass when you stick a bunch of extremely different people together and expect them to play nice. . . Rated R for mostly language
1. Testing, Testing, 1 2 3

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Author Notes: Hey y'all. I had never really thought about author notes before, but I've come to realize they're necessary (if only for the disclaimer that should have been accompanying my work from the beginning!)

So this is to say that this story is written using many characters and other copyrighted parts of the games of SSX Tricky, part of EA Sports (and whoever they belong to).

I also thought I should mention to one and all, since some people have asked, that no, I have never played the original SSX on the PS2. Since I am so handicapped, my story will basically be taking SSX Tricky, and pretending that it was the beginning ;; Gomen.

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Elise stepped up to the edge, breathing in the fresh air. A clean pine scent reached her nostrils, and she closed her eyes, savoring the feel of the brisk chill against her cheek. No matter how many times she went down Aspen Hill, it never ceased to thrill her. True, it wasn't the most adventurous of mountains, but what it lacked in variety, it made up for in chances to deviate from the course.

Elise had already found several paths she had taken to make a change from the usual course, and all had offered interesting alternatives, except for one time when she had hit a jump at one path and fallen into the gap above a river. Her roommate had forced her to stay inside when she had gotten a severe cold from what she raved was hypothermia.

She teetered on the edge, enjoying the thrill in her stomach from the large jump in front of her. Finally, she pushed off, jumping off the mountain and free-falling through the air. She reached back and grabbed her board in a simple Stalefish. She landed at the bottom with a thump and continued on her way, gathering speed as she boarded over the icy trail.

Elise came out of her Judo Air, her face expressionless as she turned to stop at the bottom of the trail. Only then did she stop to smile. A perfect run. Every trick pulled off, every turn edged perfectly, with the snow gliding beneath her board just right. There was no way she could top that one. But she was going to have a heck of a day trying.

Elise bent over to loosen one foot-strap and glided out of the way of other racers who were coming to the small finishing area. Using her free foot to propel herself forward, she headed towards the ski lift, but pulled up short as she glanced at the large group of people who were collecting around a long row of makeshift tables. She flipped up her sunglasses to get a clearer look.

"Hey there, Riggs."

Elise turned to look at the man standing next to her and was surprised to see it was Mitchell. He ran the lift most of the time, and taught a few lessons on the mountain, so Elise naturally saw him constantly.

"Hey, Mitchell. What's going on here?"

Without responding, he handed her a leaflet, which she paused to scan. The small unimpressive looking red slip of paper very simply said in bold black letters: **Auditions for Snowboarders for new competing league. Sign up at the post near the ski lift.**

"Starting a league and they didn't think to leave any advertising before this?" Elise arched an eyebrow as she turned the slip of paper over before pocketing it.

"Well, actually, there have been ads all over the lodge and in the newspaper. Knowing you though, I bet you didn't notice, eh?"

Elise smiled sheepishly as she flipped her sunglasses down over her eyes. "Yeah, well, at least I was lucky enough to be here when they showed up."

"What are you talking about, lucky?" Mitchell called after her as she started to move forward. "You're always here!"

Elise stepped up to read the list of rules posted by the rough-shod table that had been set up with a few chairs and a pair of clean-cut looking officials in expensive uniform blue and white jackets and black sunglasses. Ignoring the stares of a few of the male snowboarders checking out the table, Elise concentrated on the explanation for the try-outs:

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Welcome! Auditions for a new competitive snowboarding league today. Competitors must be at least 18, or have parental permission to compete. Competitors must be able to complete a black diamond trail. Get an audition sheet from one of our representatives and fill out the form. A cameraman will accompany you up the mountain and videotape your run. This video will be submitted to our judges, who will rate our contestants based on speed, tricks, and control. Good luck and we hope to see you on the mountain!

It seemed easy enough… Elise looked up at the two men in the sunglasses, who were smiling broadly at the crowd, and nodding politely as they chatted and laughed with some contestants. Elise stepped forward.

"Trying out, are we?" The man asked. He was the younger of the two, in his late twenties or thirties. Brown hair, brushed back from his face lay dully over a tanned forehead. He smiled broadly, his white teeth shining brightly in the sun bouncing off the snow. Elise found him obnoxious.

"Yes, 'we' are. May I have a form?" She crossed her arms as she heard one of the boarders behind her mumble something too low for her to hear, and the other boarder gave a conspiratory chuckle. Elise pointedly ignored it, focusing on the obnoxious brown-haired man instead.

"Here you are, miss. Anyone else you can think of who might want to audition?" He smiled broadly as he handed her the sheet of paper and a pen. She idly counted the number of pearly whites he was showing, as she accepted it. Twenty-eight. That many was not normal. Did Elise even have twenty-eight teeth?

Elise smiled in return, and was glad her dark sunglasses hid her eyes, which would have given away how fake it was. Moving down the long table to one of the empty chairs left for contestants signing up, she took a seat, letting her leg with the board still attached to one foot stay to the side.

Elise clicked the pen open, stopping to look at the side. A small logo that said SSX TRICKY in large eye-catching blue and white block letters covered half the pen. She twirled it around in her fingers, looking at the anonymous blue form of a snowboarder in air. Bored, she glanced at the other boarders sitting at the table.

Farther down, a few guys in loose jackets and pants were scribbling down information as if they had nothing better to do with their time, but weren't really interested. Elise almost laughed at how obvious it was that they were just putting up the front for show. She finally made herself turn to answer her own questions and scanned the necessary information.

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Name:

Age:

(Guardian Signature if under 18):

Address:

Phone Number:

Cell Number:

Weight:

Height:

Natural Hair Color:

Eye Color:

Contacts (Y/N):

Official use only- Contestant Number:

I hereby grant permission to the SSX Tricky league to use my image on videotape or photograph in all cases as I participate in this audition, regardless of whether or not I am chosen to participate in the league.

Signature:

(Guardian Signature if under 18)

Elise arched an eyebrow. Weight? Natural Hair Color? What was this, a modeling questionnaire? Elise scribbled down the information nonetheless and was soon back to hand it in to the obnoxious man.

"Ah, all done? Would you like to take your run with the cameraman now, or later?"

"Might as well do it now."

"Sure you don't want a warm-up run or two?" The man stopped to add a registration number to her form.

"Well, actually, I'm already warmed-up," Elise replied.

"Great!" He smiled up at her again. "When you get to the top of the mountain, they'll be a group of lazy-looking cameramen on snowmobiles. Tell em to send Diego down to tape you." Elise returned his extremely fake smile, and turned to head up the mountain.

"Stupid, egotistical, dumbass," grumbled Elise as she waited impatiently to reach the top, continuing to add more insults as they came into her head. When she finally reached the top, she launched herself off as soon as possible and pulled to a stop with a flourish next to where the lounging cameramen were waiting. She tipped up her sunglasses to look at the bunch, which sat around on their snowmobiles in a loose circle, their cameras sitting behind them on the seats. One in the back who looked like he hadn't shaved in a few days noticed Elise and nudged the guy next to him, smirking and jutting his chin towards her. The other man, who was more than a little overweight and looked like he could have used a shower, proceeded to look Elise up and down, a smirk spreading across his face.

"Hey there little lady," he said grinning, while he stood up and adjusted his waistbelt. "What can I do you for?"

A snigger passed through the majority of the men, while the unshaven guy gave the fat guy a friendly hit on the arm.

"Which one of you is Diego?" She asked, letting her sunglasses drop back down as she put up her best cold front.

"That would be me, sweetie," a third guy stood up, tipping back his own sunglasses to get a better look at Elise. "Who wants me?" Another snigger passed through as Elise sighed impatiently.

"The guy down there said for you to videotape me," Elise replied, jerking her thumb back over her shoulder to show which down there she meant.

"Oh baby, would I love to videotape you," the fat guy in the background said to his friend in a conspiratory, not-so-quiet whisper while Diego grinned.

"And which guy would that be?"

"The one with all the teeth. Now are you going to start that damn snowmobile and follow me down, or should I-"

"Ok, settle down, pussy cat. I'm coming." The guy sat down and took off his sunglasses while Elise turned around to wait in disgust. Soon she heard the snowmobile revving, and with a precursory check over her shoulder, she took off.

She left the cameramen and all their nasty comments behind her, losing herself in the thrill of the ride, accompanied only by the dull thrumming of the snowmobile behind her, which she heard somewhere in the back of her consciousness. Elise knew she should be nervous, knowing the stakes, but the run seemed so familiar. She had raced down the mountain often enough on bets or just to show her own merit to other boarders who thought she was all silicon and no skill, and in that familiar frame of mind, she raced down with ease.

The ride wasn't as perfect as her last- she wished she could have gotten that one on tape. But it was one of her better ones. It was lucky she didn't suck like a few weeks ago when she had had a hard time recovering after she hit a bump in the snow. As she finished up, she pulled out of her fast pace, finally turning to face Diego, coming up right behind her on his snowmobile, camera doggedly held up to still catch her on film. On a spontaneous urge, she tilted up her sunglasses, gave a wink and her best model smile.

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Elise dropped her cold wet jacket on the floor as soon as she was inside with a groan, and hobbled over to the cupboard where she proceeded to pull out instant ramen noodles. Wincing in pain as a hand went to her hip, she pushed a bowl of noodles into the microwave and jabbed at the buttons. She then hobbled over to the couch and collapsed, letting out another, louder groan of pain. She tentatively felt at her hip, taking in as much information as she could about how big the bruise she knew she would get would be.

One of the worst days she had had in a while at Aspen Hill, she had hit a large ice patch, and gone down right in the middle of it, slamming her hip into the rough patch. And she had already been in a bad enough mood because of the Boarding League.

The auditions had lasted another week before the league left, promising to call anyone they found noteworthy. It had been another two weeks since then. Elise had pretty much abandoned any hope of getting a call already. But there was still a sliver of hope, because Mitchell hadn't heard of anyone else on the mountain who heard anything either. And Mitchell heard EVERYTHING on the mountain.

_Maybe I'll just leave the ramen in the microwave_. _I'm not **that** hungry_, she thought to herself, as she finally settled down enough on the couch that the pain in her hip was almost not bothering her. Probably scratched it all up when she hit the ice patch. She'd probably have a bunch of painful scratches to go with the painful bruise.

At that moment the phone rang, and Elise groaned. Looking at the table where the cordless phone sat in it's cradle, she tried stretching to reach it, but finally gave up and lay back on the couch, trying to get comfortable again.

"I'll just let the machine get it," she mumbled to herself, shutting her eyes. Just then, the machine picked up and her recorded message started to play.

"Hey, Elise Riggs here. Sorry I can't answer the phone, but I'm either busy or boarding. Please leave your message and I'll get back to you later. Bye."

"Hello, Ms. Riggs? This is the SSX Tricky Snowboarding League."

Elise eyes flew open as she fell off the couch, having not enough momentum to actually carry her weight onto her feet. As she winced in pain, she hurriedly got to her feet and hobbled as best she could over to the phone while the message on the machine continued to ramble on.

"We were just calling to inform you that you are one of a handful of contestants chosen to try-out a second time for the SSX Tricky lea-"

"Hello?" Elise tried to keep from sounding desperate as she listened. "Yeah, sorry bout that. Just hopped out of the shower," she lied, as the microwave went off. Hobbling over to the microwave, she listened to the representative on the other line. "Next Thursday? 9:00? Sure, I can make it. Where? Oh we're not doing it at Aspen Hill again? Oh, sure. Yeah. Ok, I'll be there. Uh huh. Yeah, thanks." She turned off the phone and placed it on the countertop. Running her fingers through her hair, she started to feel much better, considering the horrible day she had _been_ having.

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Hello again! I've had people ask about whether or not Elise will always be the main character. At this point I'm not willing to say () although I _can_ tell you that I love **ALL** SSX characters (even Luther… tough he's a bit of a stretch for me). The main reason I am using Elise is that she is the only female character you can use when you first start SSX Tricky. I thought I should start with something easy (meaning being able to understand certain aspects that come along with being a certain gender) and save the cross-gender writing for a time when I'm feeling a little more confident. Hope to see you again soon!


	2. Ruff and Ready

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Author notes: Welcome back. I'm not going to continue to put a disclaimer at the beginning of every chapter when we all know this is **fanfiction** and that there are certain truths which come with that. One being that I don't own all the good stuff in the story. Ah, yes, another day in the eyes of Elise Riggs. Prepare yourself, all you Elise-haters.

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Elise shivered as she stood waiting for the car that was supposed to pick up her and her stuff. Elise was unsure what she and the other contestants would be doing for this recall, other than that it would not be at Aspen Hill, and it involved her and the other finalists getting picked up from the Aspen Hill parking lot to be taken elsewhere. And it was supposed to take all day. Elise looked at her watch. Considering it was only 9:00 in the morning that was quite a lot of day to go.

Elise glanced at the other contestants who stood waiting in the Aspen Hill parking lot. There was one other girl out of the three other contestants, and she looked like a tomboy, wearing her hair cut short and a sports jacket with her baggy snow pants. The other boarders _all_ dressed in baggy pants and jackets. Elise wrinkled up her nose at them. She found the look to be very uninteresting on the mountain, since it was on almost everyone.

As some of the other contestants started looking over at her with looks of indifference, she turned back to waiting for the car. I hope they at least choose some more interesting varieties of people for their league than just this, she thought with a sigh.

She squinted at the distance, where the road ran parallel to the parking lot before turning in. A large black SUV limousine was pulling up. The other boarders began shifting from foot to foot in anticipation, while Elise heard someone behind her give an exasperated sigh and say "Finally!"

It was forty minutes later, as she sat alone by the window of the SUV while the other finalists exchanged such stimulating conversation as "Sick!" and "Oh, now that's what I'm talking about!" that Elise caught the first glimpse of what she guessed was their destination. Peaking over the trees, there was just the tip of a white covered mountain, and a ski lift to get someone to the top. As the rounded the corner, a snaking trail down the mountain could be seen, amidst large stands that currently held very few people in comparison with what it was capable of. But the few blurred and colored dots that Elise could see from this distance was enough. Elise felt her curiosity piqued, and was suddenly anxious to make it up there and find out what was going on.

The SUV pulled into the parking lot, where press trucks were parked. Reading the channel names off the sides, Elise could see they were mostly local channels, but there were a few larger stations. As the SUV pulled up to the brand new cabin theme lodge, Elise felt a small adrenaline rush flowing through her veins.

Before Elise could reach the handle the door was flung open by an adolescent boy who was smiling moronically. "Hello! You all head on inside! They're going to fill in the contestants about what's going on today!" Pulling off one of her shows of bravado that her roommate Monique has always said she should be famous for, Elise smiled attractively to the boy, and headed towards the door of the lodge as if she had been doing this all her life.

Once inside, Elise was ushered by another maniacally grinning boy to a room in the back of the lodge that would clearly be for employees only once the course was fully in business. Other boarders were already sitting in chairs, while in the front of the room sat a plump man in an unzipped heavy overcoat, and a tall man in another of the uniform jackets and sunglasses.

After the other contestants had been seated, the plump man and tall man held a short whispered conversation before the plump man stood up, waiting for the conversations that had been taking place to fade. "Welcome! My name is Mr. Roberts! This is Garibaldi, my new mountain course! Completely revamped, it will be the first stop on the SSX Tricky Venue once fully operational! And luckily, you all get a chance to race on it today, even before the league does!"

Here, the two men switched positions, and the tall man cleared his throat before beginning. He had pale, sandy brown hair, and was wearing a casual button-up shirt. "Thank you for coming out here today. My name is Mr. Harrison. You were invited because our judges saw you had something, a talent worth working for. You ninety-six applicants were chosen out of hundreds. Unfortunately, most of you will not be invited to become part of the league. Only one of you will be asked to participate in the SSX Tricky League, and compete worldwide with contestants from other leagues and countries. However, even if you are not chosen in today's contest, we'll hang onto your entries in case we find use for you later!"

One out of ninety-six? What kind of lousy chances were those? Elise inwardly groaned as she began to abandon any prospects of making it into snowboarding…

"You may have seen the stands when your cars were pulling in. That's all the press. They'll be filming runs down the mountain, possibly doing interviews, and taping anything else they might find of interest. Please be courteous to them- they are our guest here just like you."

"Now that that's taken care of, we can start explaining how things are gonna go down here!" Mr. Harrison rubbed his hands together in boyish delight as the lights dimmed and a large screen behind him was turned on. He stepped out of the way and picked up a remote button on a wire that ran into the wall somewhere behind the table he was sitting behind. "Alright. There will be thirty heats today, not including the final race. Today is all about speed, ladies and gentlemen." He stopped to face the screen and pushed his button. A large roster of the participants lit up on the screen. He pushed the button again, and these names were filed into a chart that held them in groups of six. Harrison turned to face the competitors again.

"All of the boarders here today have just been randomly filed into the first sixteen heats. The top three placers from each heat will move on to the next heat. The finalists from there will be randomly filed again into the next eight heats. The top three placers will be moved on, and so on, you all get the idea."

The button was pushed again and the screen turned off, as the lights returned to their normal glaring intensity. Mr. Harrison turned back to the boarders. A wide smile lit up his face. "Let the games begin!"

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Elise sighed, stretching her neck from side to side as she swung her arms, trying to loosen up. The heat before her had just started, which meant that she'd be asked to step up in the next two minutes or so. She wanted to try and get as comfortable and relaxed as possible. She went to try stretching over, trying to touch her toes. Suddenly she heard a sharp wolf whistle and she paused, before slowly straightening up and turning around to see an obnoxious looking group of boarders. On in particular seemed to be checking her out, smiling as if he had just seen a new toy he was about to buy.

"Hey there." The smooth voice made Elise want to gag. Against her will, and eyebrow arched itself, and the guy smiled with reassurance. "My name's Rufe Donahue. But you can call me 'Ruff'. That's the way girls describe me when I'm doing what I do best."

Slightly amused, Elise looked the guy over before responding "And what would that be? Trying to talk yourself up?" She turned away, hoping to end the conversation, but it was not to be. Rufe merely grinned and continued.

"You should have warning signs for that frostbite. So, I told you my name. What can I call you?"

"You can call me uninterested," Elise retorted before she turned away in time to watch the racers in the heat before her take off. It wasn't that Rufe wasn't gorgeous. She could see even through the sporty long sleeve shirt he was wearing that he was built to high heaven. And his face wasn't anything to complain about either, between his green eyes and tan skin. But the way his smile reminded her of a lounge lizard was definitely a strong turn-off.

The little light above the starting point turned blue. Elise stepped up to her cage and was extremely pleased to see that Rufe was forced to back off from the area to make way for the other contestants in the heat and officials who were shooing him away.

Rid of the distraction, Elise happily began concentrating on the competition.

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Elise groaned as she saw Rufe coming over out of the corner of her eye. She held on the bars on either side of her stall, watching a large screen TV that was just off the course, as the heat from before her was racing down. A boy in large green goggles and a light windbreaker hit down the light-framed girl who was speeding along in front of him. That was one of the rules of this league: There were very few rules.

Rufe pushed himself into the stall next to Elise and smiled at her. The only word that popped into Elise's mind to describe him was 'smarmy.'

"That was a nice finish you pulled in your last heat. First place." Elise ignored him, and made a great show of stretching, hoping to offer him no encouragement. However, he was not to be dissuaded. "Of course, it was the first round of elimination, so I'm sure it wasn't that difficult. I breezed through my heat." Elise straightened up to glare at him before she faced forward, stretching her neck and arm muscles.

"I just hope you won't be mad at me after I beat you in this heat, eh, Glace?"

Elise's head whipped around so she was glaring at him full frontal. _Calling me "Icy", is he? He doesn't know the half of it!_ "Look, 'Ruff', by the time this heat is over, I won't be the only icy thing around here! I'm sure you'll be pretty cold too, between me shoving your face in the snow _and_ beating you!"

Just then an official off sides called out "Ready!" Elise faced front again, crouching low and rocking in rhythm with the changing lights. Goddamit, she'd show _him_ icy!

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Elise kept low to the ground during the next jump, opting to keep hold of her narrow lead over the rest of the boarders rather than show off with unnecessary tricks. After all, a nice trick wasn't going to get her to place. It was almost the end of the track, she remembered coming around this bend the last time she was in the competing heat. All she had to do was keep up speed during the last stretch and she'd be home free.

As she rounded the bend and managed a small forward flip over the last jump in the course, she felt a small amount of glee. That would show up that imbecile Rufe-

Suddenly, she heard the whisper of another board on the snow and felt a strong push sending her head over heels down the hill. Jumping to get back up, she darted across the finish line, seconds ahead of another racer who wold have taken third and knocked her out of the competition. Breathing heavily from the shock, her cheek stinging from the harsh hard-packed snow she had connected with, she looked to see the other two boarders who had come in ahead of her.

One was a mid-sized girl with a long brunette French braid, and the other was- of course, Rufe. She angrily stomped over to where Rufe was currently smiling graciously to a small crowd of female snowboarders who were all too happy to coo obnoxiously over him.

Not quite sure what she planned on doing, she tapped him angrily on the shoulder. He turned around, a wide smile on his face. Upon seeing her he only grinned wider. "Ah, Glace! I'm so happy you managed to get third! It would have been dull without you to keep me occupied." Elise dimly noted that the crowd of females Rufe had turned away from were not too happy over his response to this attractive and glaring blonde.

"Don't give me that! What the fuck was that right there? You had second made!"

"Ah, see, there's the problem," he responded patronizingly. "I had _second_. But I wanted _first_."

Elise gaped at him for a moment, unable to cover her disgust before she recovered. "And the fact that it doesn't matter which place you get so long as you get the top three means…"

"Absolutely nothing. You see, Glace-"

"Stop calling me that! My name is Elise, alright!"

Rufe stopped for a moment, as if taking in this new information. "It, is, is it? Ah, well, I like Glace better anyway. Suits you so well. Because as I was saying, Glace, the only thing that matters to me, is what I want." He smiled at her. "Don't worry. You can have second. Who knows, maybe they'll come up with something for the second place winner on the league after all. Maybe as gear model?" Laughing at his own joke, Rufe strode away, his board tucked under his arm.

Elise glared at him until she felt a presence by her side. Looking down at her side, she saw the brunette second place winner sighing as she watched Rufe go. "Don't pay any attention to him. He's full of himself." She moved away, studying a scratch on her board.

Elise smiled to the girl. "Easy for you to say. He doesn't talk to you."

"He wouldn't. You see, he's already slept with me." The girl looked up and grinned at the shocked expression on Elise's face. "I don't know what I was thinking. Probably nothing, as I was drunk at the time."

Elise smiled at the remark, as the two began to move out of the trail end, where press had begun jostling them for good pictures of the final stretch.

"Wouldn't you just love to show that pompous pig up?" Elise replied whimsically.

"Sure. In fact, we'll be racing with him in the next heat. Why don't we both try and knock the dumbass down?" the girl suggested with a laugh.

"Sounds good to me." The girl turned to face Elise, so Elise did likewise. "My name's Elise."

"Jenna. Hey, it would be nice to have someone watching my back for me out there besides. How bout we look out for one another in addition to our mission of vengeance?"

Elise shook on it. "Sounds fair. I hope this doesn't mean I can't knock you down if it's between you and me though. I don't think I'm that good a sport."

"Of course not. I'm not looking for lifelong friendship or anything here." The girl smiled at Elise. "I hope you make it far enough to see Rufe get his block knocked off. I have to go polish my board now, but I'll see you at the top." With a wave, Jenna headed off towards the repair station and Elise smiled grimly.

"This is going to be very, very interesting."

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Elise crouched low, breathing in deep and watching the flashing lights, slowly counting off the rhythm in her head. _3…2…1_! She launched herself off strongly, pulling ahead off the rest of the pack- except Rufe.

Smiling smugly and zooming over the hard-packed snow, he was taking off, and pulling ahead around the curve to the jump. Elise jostled a shorter boarder who was trying to zoom past her, while at the same time trying to pick up more speed.

She hurtled over the jump, pulling off an Experimental with one… two… three spins, managing to pull off more distance, landing ahead of Rufe. She tore down the icy chute, focusing on keeping low and fast

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Once the competitors had had a chance to string themselves out, it clearly became a race between Jenna, Elise and Rufe. Jenna hung ever present in second place, while Elise and Rufe seemed to alternate between zooming advances that took them to first place, and drastic mistakes that left them fighting to again reach a competitive standpoint among the others.

It was the last stretch, and Elise was experiencing one of her mistakes that left her not only fighting to beat Rufe, but more realistically, fighting for even third place. She was leaning forward, and exchanging shoves between the contender for third. Ahead, Jenna was doing the same with Rufe, and they were beginning to get harder as each tried to push the other away in time for the next jump.

Realizing she would have a problem landing if she jumped so close to the solidly built boarder next to her, Elise veered away, leaving space, but also forfeiting some territory. As they went over the next jump, Elise forfeited again the opportunity to do one last trick in order to gain speed; it worked, leaving the boarder in the air doing a ridiculously complicated trick while Elise sped away into third.

Ahead, Rufe had come down almost on top of Jenna, and she had fallen face down in the snow, while Rufe was regaining his awkward balance. Sensing an opportunity, Elise made both hands into a single fist, and whacked him solidly in the back as she passed, sending him into the snow facedown as well. Elise passed the finish line in first, followed by the solidly built rider. She turned around with a flourish to watch the end of the race. She sighed as Rufe gave a little jump to get his board in motion and crossed, just as the more injured Jenna managed to get to her feet.

Turning away, she bent to examine her board but felt a nudge in her shoulder that threatened to topple her. Looking up, she saw Rufe, glowering over her and breathing like an angry bull.

"What the fuck was that?!" He almost screamed, bearing on top of her.

Elise smiled patronizingly, and pushed gently but firmly back on his shoulder, forcing him to take a step back. "Oh, 'Ruff'. I'm so glad you managed to get third. It would have been so dull without you to keep me occupied!" With that she stepped around him and headed over to where Jenna was being helped over to first aid by some of the ever present on staff medics. She hobbled slowly, trying to keep one shoulder still, so Elise had no trouble catching up by a light jog.

"Hey, you alright there?"

Jenna smiled, her cheek on the left side of her face painfully red, with a slight cut across her cheekbone. "Of course I'm ok!" She leaned closer, adding in a small whisper, "I mean have you seen the guy helping me? He's a total cutie!" straightening back up, she smiled. "I get to stick around after they patch me up, so I'll be there to cheer you on. If you let Rufe win, I'll never forgive you!"

Elise headed into the lodge to find some food. There was only one heat left until the final race. But they were leaving that until later, because, after all, it was the final race to determine the newest member of their league. If that wasn't worth some suspense, what was?

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Elise shivered a little. The sun was turning orangey purple behind her, leaving the white snow odd yellow colors. The wind had picked up a bit, and as she stood in the stretching area before the final race, she realized her shivers were due to more than just the cold. She was the most nervous she had ever been before in her life.

She pointedly ignored Rufe, who was stretching on the other side of the circle, and glaring just as pointedly back at her. Elise had thought for awhile while she was eating that maybe it was a mistake to have pushed Rufe, as he seemed to be holding a strong grudge. But she had then banished that thought, thinking that he deserved it, regardless of whether he was offended or not.

The blue light signaled Elise to step up to her cage, and she breathed in deep.

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Red. Yellow. Green.

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Elise nearly cried out in frustration. She had jumped over the large overhang as the path twisted around, scaring herself witless, but determined to gain the extra advantage over the other boarders. Rufe was a threat of the past now. One of the other boarders from the other half of the competitors was proving practically invincible. He seemed stronger, faster, and altogether better than anyone else in the race. He continued to hold a steady lead, regardless of every little way Elise tried to gain an advantage on the foreign track.

It was approaching the end, and Elise had yet to be within an over-takeable distance from the boarder. Rufe was somewhere behind her, proving a constant nuisance and nothing more. She couldn't think of anything to do! And there weren't any prizes for simply placing this time…

Feeling helpless, she tried to crouch lower, gain more speed, but it wasn't doing much to help her. She suddenly perked up as she noticed the boarder stumble a little as he jumped of the next ramp. _Maybe he's getting tired_… Elise thought hopefully. Trying to ignore her own straining muscles, she maintained her breathtaking pace, concentrating carefully on all she did so as not to make a mistake.

The boarder continued to make small mistakes, stumbling here, coming down poorly there. Elise continued to pick up the slack, and did small tricks on the jumps so as not to waste time in the air. But then her heart sank as she came up to what she recognized as the final jump before the trail curved to the final jump and stretch.

And suddenly, the boarder ahead of her slipped up grandly, taking out one of the large punching bag like yellow arrow directors. This was her chance, she almost held her breath, as she paid no attention to the boarder's attempts to regain his composure.

And then she felt her arm jerk, and she slipped a little. There, beside her and getting ready to slam her again was Rufe, ready to swoop in now that the chance was right. She gritted her teeth and watched as he went to hit her. She blocked him, and sped ahead a little to take the jump. As they landed, she swerved away from him, trying to keep him out of arm's reach. So long as he couldn't mess her up, she'd be fine. Dimly she noted the anonymous boarder at the corner of her vision.

Rufe apparently didn't, because he centered once again on her, this time appearing to be ready to throw all his weight behind a solid hit. Elise tensed, ready to retaliate. As he suddenly swerved in to hit her, she swerved in the same direction just as suddenly. Rufe found himself facing no opposition, and stumbled, falling to the side as Elise sped on. But the swerve had cost her speed, and the other boarder took the jump low and swooped into first place. Elise finished numbly, noting Rufe angrily crossing the line and storming away, as the other three boarders finished dejectedly.

Elise sighed, and quietly walked away as press swarmed the boarder. A few approached Elise as well, to ask her how she felt after coming so close, but she gave them icy glares, forgetting about good sportsmanship, and headed away to where the black SUV would take her back to Aspen Hill so she could continue living in obscurity.

__

So much for dreams of fame and conquest, Elise sighed bitterly.

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So, do I get an A for completely expected plot twists? I think we all knew she wasn't going to beat him this time around, didn't we? Oh yes we did…


	3. No Business Like Snowbusiness

****

Author Notes: Ahh, nothing like a good case of self-loathing to get a story going. I know we all experience this at some point or another. We see pictures of ourselves, or have a small trip down memory lane… and then we start thinking along the lines of "I was such a fing loser." (or is that just me?)

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"This is going to be very, very interesting," Elise said, before smiling to herself in front of the Garibaldi backdrop. This was followed by shots of impressive tricks and shoves while the news anchor did an annoying voice-over.

"Yesterday afternoon at a nearby slope, Garibaldi which in fact just completed extensive renovations, a new snowboarding league hosted a competition for the newest member of their international racing team. The winner, a long term snowboarder for pleasure, had a few words today after his impressive victory."

"Hey, my name's Gary Mason, I just wanted to say it was a great time to just compete, and just the chance to keep competing is going to be grea-" A pillow hit the screen, managing to take the power button with it.

Elise snuggled deeper into her blanket, looking thoroughly miserable and forbidding. Mitchell had said there was going to be a special on the competition today on the six o'clock news, and Elise had stupidly thought to at least see how it all looked from another perspective. Seeing her stupid shot from back when she had thought she had a chance of making it into the league had just depressed her more.

"Yeah, it was real interesting seeing myself in that spectacular loss," Elise muttered viciously as she kicked at the table. Elise was spectacular in her poor sportsmanship.

The phone rang, but Elise sullenly sat in her blankets, boxed into a corner of her couch. The answering machine finally picked up, and her message rattled off.

"Hello, Ms. Riggs, this is the SSX Tricky League. We were hoping to catch you at home in order to discuss some matters with you… I suppose we'll try back- Ms. Riggs?"

"Hello! You keep calling when I'm in the shower!" Elise said with a little laugh. She turned a little to look at the mess the cushions and blanket were now in, piled on the floor where they had hit as she had made her hasty path to the phone.

"Er, sorry bout that. We were hoping that we could have a representative discuss a few matters with you, perhaps over lunch tomorrow?"

"What sort of matters?"

"Well, the league is still interested in your performance, and considering some sort of position for you in the league. Would you be willing to meet a representative from the league at noon? We'd pay for your lunch, of course."

"Well, I didn't have anything planned tomorrow, so that sounds great!"

After getting directions to a local soup and sandwich place, Elise went back to her couch. After a half-hearted attempt to straighten it up, she sat down, thinking to herself. What would they be offering her? They couldn't be considering letting her into the league as well, could they?

Maybe I was really that good… but that was just being too hopeful. They probably just want me to model off their gear or something, she thought miserably to herself. Still, maybe she'd get a chance to snowboard of some kind…

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Elise pulled up to the restaurant in her car and after putting on the brake and turning the car off, she pulled down the mirror above the driver's side. Quickly retouching her make-up, she threw the lipstick and mascara back in her bag, grabbed it, and headed in.

She was seated at a table where a man in maybe his late thirties was already sitting, polishing his glasses and trying to pat down his wispy brown hair. Upon seeing Elise, he immediately stood up and offered his hand to her.

"Hello, Ms. Riggs, my name is Henry Porter."

"Nice to meet you Mr. Porter, I hope you weren't waiting long," Elise replied charmingly, smiling as she allowed the nearby waiter to pull her chair out for her.

"Not at all. Just got here a few moments ago myself. If you'd care to go ahead and order, I hear they have wonderful-"

"Actually, Mr. Porter, I was hoping you could just tell me straight out what you called me about."

Mr. Porter gave a brief smile. "I suppose that's fair enough. We want you for our newest member of the SSX Tricky Snowboarding League."

Elise kept her face motionless, although her heart was racing on the inside. "I thought the League was only looking for one new member."

"We are. And you're it." Mr. Porter took a sip of the glass of water, allowing Elise to collect her thoughts.

"But… I came in second. Why not take Mr. Mason? He was clearly faster than I was. If he hadn't made those few mistakes towards the end of the race, I would have been nowhere near him when he won."

Mr. Porter cleared his throat awkwardly. "Yes, well, the League officials had several other factors when they made their decision…"

Elise suddenly felt her temper flare up. "And would one of those decisions be based on appearance, Mr. Porter?"

He seemed to be taken by surprise. "Well, yes, you could say that. However, I am sure the officials decision was based on much more than- Excuse me, Ms. Riggs, but where are you heading?"

"I already have a job as a model, Mr. Porter, so if you think I am going to take a snowboarding job just to model and pose for your agency, I would prefer you take Mr. Harrison." Elise slung her bag over her shoulder and offered her hand as she prepared to go, confusing the waiter who had just arrived with a pitcher of water to fill her glass. "Good day, Mr. Porter."

"For Christ's sake, girl, sit back down." Mr. Porter took of his glasses, rubbing his eyes. Elise slowly sunk back into her chair, but left her bag strap on her shoulder in case she once again decided to leave. "Technically, this was supposed to remain classified, but I'd hate to see you throw away such a great opportunity because of some silly notion of pride and dignity." Elise felt her temper bristle, but remained in her seat to hear what this classified piece of information was.

Mr. Porter looked up, eyeing her contemplatively. Finally, he put his glasses back on his nose and looked her straight in the eye. "Mr. Mason tested positive for steroids. That is why the League did not offer the position to him. Mr. Mason was notified, and another contestant was chosen. You are that contestant. If you do not accept the position, I am sure the post will go to the contestant who came in third, and will not be offered to Mr. Mason."

Elise felt a little embarrassed, as well as a little annoyed over the prospect of Rufe Donahue getting the post. "Well, in that case, I would be happy to accept the post as a member of the racing league Mr. Porter," she replied trying to maintain her dignity in the situation. She then picked up her glass which had been filled by the waiter a while back, and taking a sip, addressed Mr. Porter again, saying "What was it you were telling me that tasted so good here?"

Mr. Porter gave a chuckle, picking up his menu.

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Elise sat grinning like a Cheshire cat. She had signed the contract Mr. Porter had offered her after lunch, and she was now the newest member of the SSX Tricky team! And the only Canadian one at that. Afterwards she had gone to Aspen Hill, and casually mentioned it to Mitchell. By the time she had left the hill after her afternoon of boarding, the entire mountain knew, Elise Riggs was now a professional snowboarder!

Elise was hardly even paying attention to the man sitting next to her. Sure, she had let Gerry take her to the movies, but if he actually thought she meant anything by it… she knew he did though, because he kept looking over at her and had oh-so-smoothly turned his obviously fake yawn a moment ago into a chance to put his arm around her. She had been in such a good mood that she let it slide, but she'd give him a faceful if he tried anything with her! And by a faceful she meant her fist in his face.

Elise sighed in disgust as he tightened his arm at what he was sure was a terrifying moment in the movie for her. Truth be told, she found the movie a little dull and wished she hadn't been in the bragging mood. It would have kept her from the uncontrollable urge to go out that night rather than stay at home alone, safe from the imbecile who sat next to her, thinking she didn't notice every time he stole looks at her. But who was she kidding? Elise had been in a bragging mood when she stole the last cookie from her little cousin when they were younger. Something this big went without question!

Elise put up her hand in Gerry's face, effectively preventing him from finishing his move that would have left him planting a kiss on Elise's- actually she wasn't sure where it was headed, since she wasn't about to turn and kiss him back.

"Don't even think about it, Gerry." She said, giving his face a little push back to let him know just how he stood with her.

Elise actually enjoyed the rest of the spectacularly dull movie, since Gerry had gotten the idea and kept his hands to himself.

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Elise- uncoiled was probably the best word, her tall frame straightening much like a cat's- as she got out of her car, putting on a pair of stylish black sunglasses. She stood and watched the slope, letting her hip jut out a little. She supposed she stood that way because her body was familiar with it, standing that way often to pose for photo shoots. Today was going to be her first day as a member of the SSX Tricky Snowboarding League. They were having a photo shoot. Elise smiled at the irony of her situation.

Sighing, she began to walk towards Garibaldi, her snowboard under her arm. She knew that publicity was a large part of the whole celebrity sports gig, but what she really wanted to do was go up and try the powder on that slope again. Thankfully, she was not disappointed.

"Hey, good you made it, Ms. Riggs," a smiling woman in winter gear said, tossing her long straight dark hair over her shoulder, just so. She held out a hand to shake after she had taken off her black leather glove. "My name's Karen, I'm the, well, you can say I'm your chaperone while you're in the league. Now, later we're going to be doing some still shots inside, but first we're giving you some time to warm up, because after the still shots, we're doing some action ones. Now, the other three members of the league are already warming up, but luckily we held onto the only other member of our team you have to meet. Hey, Rahzel! Get your overpaid butt over here!" She smiled good-naturedly as a tall man in a black jacket and jeans jogged over. By tall, that meant he was almost as tall as Elise was. He stopped short of the two women and whistled.

"Well," he began after being introduced, "our only girl of the league isn't going to have to worry about the boys beating her up, now is she. I think you might actually be taller than our boys." He had an infectious smile that revealed a large mouth of pearly white teeth amidst his coffee-colored skin. Elise's eyes quickly scanned his bald head and laughing eyes as she held out a hand to take the one being offered her.

"Pleasure. What exactly do you do in the league?"

"I am the voice you'll be hearing in your head every time you snowboard for the next six months," he said, grinning.

"He's the announcer," Karen explained. "I am the one who gives you all notices and makes sure you guys don't wreck any hotels we have to stay in. If we left that up to Rahzel, he'd probably start getting smashed and wrecking it with you."

"Hey, don't rag on me just cause I like to have a little fun in life," he joked as he walked back over to the where he had been joking with the camera crew.

Karen shook her head before turning back to Elise. "You need anything, or are you ready to start?"

"I think I'm good," Elise replied, looking over her board.

"Well, you can warm up in that, but you're going to need to see make-up and dressing room before you get any shots taken," Karen said looking at the little clipboard she sported.

"What do you mean dressing room? Can't I wear what I got on?"

"I'm sure when you signed your contract it mentioned that the league could decide on matters of your appearance while you are associated with the league." Karen looked up to see the slightly panicked look on Elise's face. "Don't worry. We won't be doing anything extreme, like dressing you up in cowgirl wear or something equally degrading." After seeing this didn't seem to help rid Elise of her slight look of panic, Karen lowered her clipboard to face Elise. "If we're going to have you plastered all over our promos, we want to make sure you look, well, cutting-edge. Anything they pick out will just have to look good for the pictures. You get most say in what you wear. After all, the judges liked something about your appearance when they picked you. We just want a little more interesting clothing than four boarders all in jacket and pants you can find in any store in the country. And we might look for some more interesting board designs too." Karen arched an eyebrow at the way Elise's grip tightened on her board. "Relax, we're not going to burn it! Just go warm up!" Karen gave a laugh as Elise trudged away, looking at Karen like she was doing something suspicious.

Elise finally stopped when she was close to the lift and bent over to pull on her board. When she straightened up, she made a few moves to stretch her neck and arms, rolling out her shoulders and bending her neck from side to side, her eyes close as she tried to concentrate on relaxing.

__

You're in front of all the league members now. The first time they're going to see you board. Goofing up would not install confidence in your abilities among them. CONCENTRATE!

Nodding her head, Elise opened her eyes, noticing that someone was boarding down the slope. Shading her eyes she watched him- it had to be a him, Rahzel had mentioned she was the only girl- zip straight down. She smiled as she heard him shout "Riiiiiiiiight oooooooon, baby!" and threw up his arms and his head- his afro-ed brunet head- in time to miss the large bump of snow that must have been collecting for a while now.

He tumbled forward in a somersault, sliding on his back as his anchored feet refused to twirl around again. His loud blue patterned shirt rode up, revealing a pair of boxers sticking up over bright yellow pants and a thin, if not heavily muscled, stomach, as he yelped in shock at the feel of snow all over his back and probably up his pants as well.

He finally came to a stop at the base, having little to cause momentum to keep him moving. He just laid there, ignoring the feeling of snow and the chuckles of the varied crew at the base of the hill.

"Just like I planned it. Only bad." He coughed to himself as he began to sit up, wrestling the bottom of his shirt back in place, and brushing snow off his back.

Elise snorted at the sight of his afro, which was now brown only in the front, the back being an interesting blur of white powder. The boarder glared at her, unbuckling his board from his feet and standing up.

"What are you laughing at?" he asked, shaking out his legs to get snow out of his pants.

Elise couldn't help it. She burst out laughing, wiping tears from her cheek and trying to catch her breath. He growled deep in his throat as Karen came over.

"Eddie! Are you alright?" She looked deeply concerned, despite the fact that her breath kept catching in her throat as if she was trying to keep herself from laughing like Elise.

"Yeah, I'm good," he muttered, reaching up to shake out his afro. Karen nodded and gave some orders to a couple of men standing around to fix the bump to make sure no one else tripped on it. "Who's this," Eddie muttered, hooking a thumb at Elise who was just beginning to catch her breath, gasping at air.

Karen smiled brightly. "Eddie, this is Elise Riggs, the fourth member of our league. Elise, Eddie Wachowski."

"Nice to meetcha," Elise snorted, holding out a hand.

"Yeah, whatever," Eddie muttered, shaking her hand for the least amount of time possible. "Karen, I'm heading back up for another run."

"Good! You two can head up together!" She herded them together to the box lift, which was like a small trolley car, where she made sure they were settled before bustling back off to other duties.

After a few failed attempts to talk to Eddie, Elise realized she was better off shutting up and looking at the slope. On the way up, she saw two other dark blurs on their way down the mountain, in what appeared to be a race.

"What are the other boarder's names?" She asked, looking at Eddie with an expression that made it into a demand rather than a polite question.

Eddie glared at her. "Mac and Moby."

"They both from around here?" Elise asked.

"You're the only one from around here," Eddie retorted, crossing his arms in a way that said he was through playing with her.

"What's wrong with you? You a bad sport or something? I wasn't making fun of you for falling, it was just funny."

"Just cause you probably slept with an executive to make it into the league doesn't mean I have to be friends with you," Eddie replied, slumping in his seat like a teenager.

"Look, you stupid little boy, I'm not asking to be friends. I'm not here to make them. I'm here to win. And if you think I'm not good enough to be here, I'll race you down the mountain to prove it to you. Not that your display at the bottom of the hill was all that impressive. I've seen amateurs who would have handled bumps better than you."

"Oh, yeah?"

By the time they had reached the top of the mountain, Elise and Eddie were standing up, yelling at one another.

"You're such a juvenile pansy!"

"You're just a silicon wannabe!"

They finally noticed they were at the top and headed to the slots to prepare to push off.

"They don't have the light systems working yet, so you're going to have to let someone call it," Eddie growled.

"Ready when you are," Elise snapped back.

One of the electricians working above them, clearly amused, called out "Ready. Set. Go!" for them, and they were off, racing down the mountain.

Elise and Eddie were rather well matched, and kept close to each other throughout the race, each pulling of spectacular tricks as if it was a requirement of the match. By the time they reached the bottom, however, Eddie was starting to lag behind, clearly a little tired from all the work he'd put into previous matches. Elise crossed the finish line, sliding right over where the bump used to be just to spite him.

Eddie slid into second, shaking his head. "Not even a warm-up run on a fresh course, and you beat me."

Elise decided to not tell Eddie she had already raced this slope for the competitions to make it into the league, and instead just smiled at him in a superior way.

"I'm afraid that's all the time you have to warm-up," Karen said, holding her clipboard as she stood next to two other boarders. Elise unhooked one of her feet and pushed over, looking at the extremely short and young looking boarder in the oversized jacket and pants.

"Let me introduce you to Moby, and Mac," Karen continued, gesturing first to a black man with an interestingly shaped-goatee, and second to the short kid.

"Hey there, love," Moby said in a heavy British accent, shaking Elise's hand. They were close in height, but it looked like Elise was actually a little taller in the end.

"Yo," Mac said, nodding in an attempt to seem cool and aloof. It was hard to seem cool and aloof while he was craning up his neck to look at her face, and appeared to be a head shorter.

"Ok, now that everyone's met everyone and warmed up, we have to go inside and get ready for publicity shots. Hurry now, we're already behind!" Karen ushered everyone inside, despite the fact that she was shorter than all the boarders and Rahzel were, except Mac.

As soon as the four had made it inside where it looked like a temporary make-up and dressing station had been thrown together, Elise was forced into a chair as someone began coming at her with an eye pencil. She took it bravely, despite the fact that she didn't trust the speedy girl who took moments to draw dramatic dark lining around her eyes, tittering away all the while to a younger, less efficient looking girl who seemed to be learning the ropes. Elise hoped _she_ didn't get to have a go at Elise with the eye pencil.

While the girls continued applying dark make-up- making her eyes more smoky, bringing out her well-shaped lips- Elise had a hard time keeping herself from laughing at the sound of the other boys being forced to suffer the application of something that she was sure was altogether foreign to them, and a serious threat to their manhood. She couldn't see anyone but Eddie, sitting behind her being reflected in the mirror, but all of them were extremely vocal.

"Hey, where do you think you're going with that! I don't need any make-up! I'm a guy!"

"Well, of course you need make-up! You'll look all washed out up there in the middle of all that bright snow if we don't darken your coloring a bit!"

"Blimey, get away from me with that powder!"

__

Splurt. Elise ignored the feeling of the wet gel in her hair and the girls smoothing it out to listen to the boys complain.

"Hey, watch where you're poking that thing! MY EYE!"

Elise giggled evilly as Eddie jumped up, knocking over the timid girl who had been trying to line his eyes while he thrashed about. He then proceeded to run around, trying to escape the girls applying make-up, until one of the security guards in the station grabbed hold of Eddie, slammed him in the seat, and proceeded to pin him there while the make-up artists advanced, brandishing their brushes and tubes of odd concealers and cover-ups.

"All done!" Elise's make-up artist said, whipping off the small towel they had covered Elise's front with.

"Thank you!" Elise replied as she headed on to dressing, sticking her tongue out at Eddie, as he began to whimper at the sight of the eye pencil again.

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Elise rubbed her arms as she waited for the boys to make it outside. She had been forced to change out of her skin-tight jeans, long-sleeved black shirt and white T-shirt into a tight red jacket and stretchy blue pants. Elise rather liked her outfit; she had even gotten to help pick it out from the large rack of choices that had been laid out.

The boys finally trudged out, looking somewhat beaten. They had just spent the last two hours being pushed and shoved in every direction while men and women armed with large flash cameras gave them directions. Elise had borne it all, noting a strong similarity between this job and her modeling career. Moby also seemed used to the drill. _He must have modeled for something... maybe sportswear?_ Eddie and Mac, meanwhile, got shoved around the most, failing to follow what Elise thought were the simplest of directions.

The four were taken up the hill in the little enclosed trolley, and were then told to simply board down the mountain, trying out any tricks they wanted, only trying to make it look as sensational as possible. Elise complied, and after five more runs, the cameramen were satisfied.

"Great! Now, you all have rooms waiting for you upstairs!" Karen informed them, handing them keys with room labels on them. "Of course, you can leave if you want, and come back later, but you have to check in for the night by one. Tomorrow you get a chance to practice, along with racers you'll be competing against who aren't in the league. I suggest you come in earlier than one in order to get a good night's sleep. And that curfew applies to you too, Rahzel!" She called over her shoulder before he could slip out of the building.

"Congratulations on making it through your first day as an SSX Tricky Professional Snowboarder!"

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Alright. I'm ready to tell you all now. No. Elise will not remain the main character forever. Her days are numbered. Not that she won't return. You know what I don't understand? All the SSX Tricky writers make Marisol evil. And yet, she has more friends than Elise when you get right down to it. Power to the Hispanic-Booty-Shaking-Chick!


	4. King of the Mountain

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Author Notes: I'm not precisely sure what to put here this time. I suppose I could apologize for taking so long to update (eh hehehe) I wasn't sure where I wanted to go with the story, I had too much schoolwork, I made the mistake of saying I'd play drumset for the school musical, and I was just feeling all around blocked. Etc. etc. All in all, I'm sorry, but we all know it will happen again, so I won't make any empty promises.

Ooh! Marisol and Elise meet for the first time in this chapter. CATFIGHT!

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"Uhhh." Eddie made the grunting noise from deep in his throat, rubbing his wrist to try and see if anything was broken. Looking at the trail he had left behind him, he groaned. He had been doing fine until he had jumped off the side of the trail. That attempt at a trick had gone nowhere.

Finally satisfied that his arm was only sore from the jolt of it breaking his fall, he hopped back up, and with a few small jumps to get the board moving, began once again whizzing down the run. He was a little unnerved by the dense forest and rock formations he had narrowly avoided running into by forcing himself to fall. It was a miracle he hadn't hit a tree in his slightly uncontrolled board and tumble down the outside of the trail.

_What's a miracle is that that stuck-up prick wasn't here to witness my fall_. Her laughing cold-eyed face popped up in his head, making him scowl. She had already caught him fall twice more today. Once it had only been because he and Mac had been wrestling and Mac had tackled him from behind when he wasn't paying attention, but still, it had been pretty annoying to see her laughing at him, _again_.

_What a faker. She seemed more at home when we were posing for the damn publicity pictures then when we're actually boarding. This is probably all one big modeling gig for her._

Then again, she had beaten him in their little race. _Just because she can do it, doesn't mean she takes it seriously. She certainly doesn't take you seriously._

Normally boarding calmed Eddie down. Today, it wasn't doing shit for him.

__

What the hell. I'll just take a break once I get down. And maybe it'll help me stop fucking up.

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"Hey, Mackenzie! What's up, brother?" Eddie tapped Mac's fist with his own, ignoring Mac's glare.

"Nothing much, _Edward_."

"Alright, you've proved your point. Mac it is!" Eddie sat down across the cafeteria type tables from Mac, his tray sliding down in front of him.

"So, how are your runs today?" Mac asked while slurping soda through a straw.

Eddie squinted to make out the small part of Mac that wasn't covered in something baggy or hidden in his slouch. "Pretty good, man. I completely bombed on one run, but I'm so used to wiping out I hardly notice," he replied with a grin.

Mac chuckled. "Me, I got a little distracted watching all the others come in." He gestured with his head to the small collection of other boarders who were sitting at various tables around the room.

Eddie glanced over to see the other boarders who would be racing. Mr. Harrison had already explained what would happen in the next few days. A series of races for publicity (Mr. Harrison had warned that the beginnings of the league would most likely be about the publicity) for the new league, plus a few boarders that Harrison had his eye on to try and pull into the league. There were only about four boarders hanging around at the other three tables, besides the one where Mac and Eddie sat, and the one where Moby and Elise seemed to be chatting small talk from a few seats away from each other.

Eddie whistled appreciatively over the girl who was sitting at the table next to theirs, a small blonde with curves in all the right places. This was only accentuated by the fact that she was wearing a pink stretch wrap-around shirt, and a skin-tight pair of black pants. She tossed her blonde hair over her shoulder, and Eddie knew she had heard him and realized it was for her, despite the fact that her face said otherwise, remaining blank. She just _looked_ like the type of girl who knew when a guy whistled for her.

Eddie heard a sound of disgust coming from the general direction of Elise's table. Eddie felt a juvenile sort of pleasure over this as he quickly scanned the other tables to see the remaining four (he had miscounted in his first quick scan) new boarders. Sharing the table with the blonde bombshell was a tall blonde guy, who was smiling as he talked with her. At another table, a heavy-set man with closely trimmed brown hair was finishing off the remains of what looked like a rather large lunch, while behind him, a small slight-figured red-head in red pants and a blue shirt ate a few fries smothered in ketchup. The only striking thing about her really, was that when she turned around to catch a comment the man at the table behind her had said, Eddie was able to notice that bright red lines were marked on her face, one on each cheek, and another on her forehead. Eddie couldn't help but wonder if they were paint, or something a little more permanent.

Sitting with the girl in Indian war paint was another girl of a slight frame, with reddish-brown pigtails in braids and freckles all across her nose. She looked like a misplaced farm girl. Nothing all that interesting, in Eddie's opinion.

"So, now that you've had your fill of the sight of all the other boarders, are we going to go out and actually board?" Eddie asked, as he finished wolfing down his burger and fries.

"Sure thing, Eddie, my man. Now don't get upset if I go beating your ass up and down the mountain, old timer," Mac replied with a chuckle and a sly grin.

"Old timer? Ha, I'll show you what an old school boarder can do. You going down, young'un!"

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Marisol blew out her breath experimentally, and watched the white puff rise in the air before her. Licking her lips, she was pleased to find them still warm.

"Boarding is indeed the best exercise ever. Well, besides dancing, of course." Marisol loved to hear herself talk. The way her accent twisted the english words always pleased her, almost as much as the way she looked when she was boarding. She had JP to thank for both of those things. Unfortunately, it wasn't a pleasant memory anymore.

When they had broken up, months ago, Marisol hadn't been surprised. But she had been disappointed. She supposed she should be able to thank him and move on, as he had most certainly done. But it still continued to irk her that the things she had come to love most in life had been received at the hands of someone who she had come to loathe with a passion. At least she was able to hate the French language, something he had given her, and something so much more personal than the English one.

Language of Love, ha! Spanish had so much more passion and heat than French. And those were the things that made up a great love anyway. The thought twisted the glare on Marisol's face to a satisfied smile. Marisol definitely had those, something she had been able to share with JP. She hoped he missed them dearly now.

Soothed, Marisol stopped to notice that despite the fact that she had been getting extremely heated and angry over her thoughts, her body had gotten cold. A shiver passed down her back involuntarily and she pushed off, rubbing her bare arm against the cold, feeling goosebumps.

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"Arrrrgh! That's fucking _cold_, man!"

"Watch that language young man! And of course it's cold. You act like you've never had ice down the back of your shirt before," Eddie grinned wickedly.

Eddie had won the race, but Mac had showed him up beyond belief when they tried tricks. So much so that the small distance Eddie had beat Mac by had become inconsequential. Unfortunately, Mac's well-deserved victory had been cut short by the larger mass that was Eddie. Tackling Mac and showing his superiority in size, if not skill, he had managed to pin Mac down on his stomach in the snow, using his knees and begin shoving massive amounts of snow down his back. Mac had not taken it very well.

"I'm going to freakin' murder you, man!"

"Not till you hit puberty, my friend."

They paused at the sound of a throaty giggle reaching them from somewhere off in the direction of their heads. They both stopped to look up and see the curvy blonde from lunch standing a short distance away, laughing.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," she said suggestively, almost incoherently due to her heavy accent.

Mac took advantage of this distraction to Eddie to squirm out from beneath him and lob a snowball at him, getting him squarely in the jaw. Eddie glared at him, wiping the slushy mess off his cheek while the blonde only laughed harder.

"I am Marisol, by the way," she finally got out, after Mac had lost his jacket in an effort to rid himself of about twenty pounds of snow that Eddie had managed to stuff down his jacket once he had pinned him again.

"Eddie… it's a pleasure," he grunted out while trying to scoop more snow down Mac's shirt.

"Please… help!" Mac pleaded, scrabbling at the snow under him furiously in an attempt to escape. The front of his shirt was soaked from having been pinned down too long.

"This disrespectful young man is Mac," Eddie supplied, sitting back and brushing the snow off of his hands.

"The pleasure is all mine, I'm sure," Marisol purred from her height above them. Eddie had a hard time noticing past her chest, which she seemed to be sticking out, just a little. When he looked up into her face again, he noticed she was looking at him in an amused kind of way. He flushed and felt his ears getting hot as he scrambled up to his feet.

_Am I that obvious?_ He coughed nervously while trying to think of something to say to break the silence. _At least she doesn't seem to mind_. He looked her a bit shyly in the eyes. Girls were not his strong point. Give him a computer and he knew all the right buttons to push. Leave him with a girl, and he was a freaking schoolboy.

"You are both competing in the races tomorrow, right?" She finally asked, addressing it more in Mac's direction.

"Oh, yeah. We're both in the league. Did you join?" Mac asked when he realized

she was talking to him.

"No. I was not asked to join, just to compete against you."

"Oh." Eddie ran his hand threw his afro, got stuck not even halfway through, and was forced to yank it out looking like an idiot.

Marisol continued as if she hadn't noticed Eddie's struggle with his hair. "Although, I have a feeling that the league couldn't afford anymore members at the moment, fledging thing that it is. There are a lot more famous leagues, better paying ones too, inviting us other boarders to join them."

"Hmm." Eddie looked up and was surprised to notice it had gotten dark, and at some point Mac had wandered off. However the course was still well lit, bright fluorescent lights flooding the area and bouncing off the sparkling white powder. He looked back at Marisol, who was looking up the course as well. "Hey, you wanna go boarding down a couple runs with me?"

She looked back at him with a smile. "Why, I thought you'd never ask."

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"Ooof!" Eddie slumped down against the rock, groaning. He had made it through two runs with Marisol decently, but had missed the small hill of snow that had formed in the path, and after jumping in the air a bit, and landed ungracefully, and more importantly, off-balance before rolling into the large rock that bordered the course.

"Oh, are you alright?" Marisol was at his side, kneeling next to him and looking worried.

"Ah, yeah, I'm used to it by now," Eddie grimaced, giving her a weak grin as he forced himself into a sitting position.

"Here, let me help you," she murmured, guiding him up with her hand.

_Now this is **much** better than that prick Elise_.

A derisive snort sounded from behind them. _Well, speak of the devil_.

"You don't have to worry about him. He crashes more often than a test dummy. I'm sure if it were possible to kill him, he'd be dead by now."

Marisol looked annoyed. "No one asked for your opinion," she replied, before turning her back to Elise. Her face didn't move, and sunglasses hid her eyes, even in the dark, but somehow Eddie could tell she was pissed.

"I'll leave you two alone then. Just one last piece of unasked-for friendly advice: don't forget the rubber. I'd doubt you'd look very good in that outfit, 5 months pregnant."

"And I'd doubt you've ever had to worry about that before. I'm sure it's hard enough to find a man your size, let alone one who will sleep with you."

This time an eyebrow creased downward to show Elise was glaring behind her sunglasses before she pushed off, speeding down the course like one possessed.

"Honestly, what did they do, find Bigfoot and decide to give it a snowboard? What a monster!"

Eddie grinned in response to Marisol's heated jibes. "You're something, you know that?"

Marisol looked up, a little taken a back before smiling. "You're such a sweet boy. Now come on, let's get up and moving down the trail. Not too fast though. Wouldn't want to see _it_ again."

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Author Note: Hiss! Yeah, well, the fight had to start somewhere. Some people are just not compatible. Like in Sims. You get them talking, and they just piss each other off. Sorry if Marisol's speech didn't seem like stuff she'd say. I have a hard time with accents. And I know I make Eddie crash an outstanding amount of times. I just like the thought of a professional snowboarder who's an absolute klutz most of the time ;; See ya'll next update! (I hope! cross fingers)


	5. A Need, A Need for Speed

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Author Notes: Hello, hello, one and all. So, did everyone enjoy our little _trip_ into Eddie's head? Trip, hehe, get it, cause Eddie keeps. . . ok, ok, bad joke. I realize I had quite a few characters that are not SSX Tricky characters! Fear not, they are not a significant part of the story. Most of the characters, such as all the little people Elise knew back before she was part of the league, will (probably) never be seen again. (Although one or two characters I make may pop in every now and then as repeating background characters)

And now for the reason why it took me so long to update!

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Random Excuse Generator: One of my stories was reported to the FanFiction.Net administration and taken down. As punishment I was not allowed to update at all for an unspecified period of time. And I was uninspired. Again. But I _think_ I may have worked a way to avoid that from happening anymore. (Yeah!)

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He grinned shyly up at her through his eyelashes. She laughed charmingly, lightly touching his arm. He bent over to whisper something in her ear while her lips parted in a soft 'o'.

Elise believed theirs was one of those relationships that should be conducted in a less public place. Like say, a linen closet. Not that anyone could tell how sick the sight of the two of them made her. Her stony expression and sunglasses hid her direct line of sight. Anyone who looked at her would assume she was looking at the crowd of fans and reporters that were screaming and flashing pictures from just behind the two.

Which was exactly what Elise wanted. No sense letting the two of them have the satisfaction of seeing her react. And if she played tough today, she just might be able to see their reaction when she kicked both of them to the curb on her way to first place.

Her lips twitched into a smile at the thought of the flirt's spoiled pout and the

"Miss! Miss! Picture?"

Elise turned to her left to acknowledge the small balding photographer with the camera.

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Marisol glanced sidelong at where the Ice Queen herself was waiting before the start of the race. Catching her whipping her head back to look at the reporter in front of her, Marisol smiled in spite of herself. A little humility would do the girl good. The humility of losing the race would probably crush that stony exterior. And that would do Marisol a world of good.

Eddie leaned in to tell her something and she held up her ear, titling her head so as to get a good look at Elise without letting on her intentions. And suddenly, her smile froze on her mouth and dropped into a sort of horrified oval. What was _he_ doing here? Oh nevermind! Of course he was here. He was an excellent snowboarder, something she couldn't deny, no matter how much she wished she could. The thought had never crossed her mind however, that she would be forced to meet him here.

She suddenly caught his focus, and after a moment's hesitation, he began to head over. Marisol forced her face back to Eddie's, letting her eyes lose sight of him while an amazingly convincing smile and accompanying laugh forced themselves form her lips. She gently touched Eddie's right hip with her fingertips, a gesture she was sure both boys would notice.

And then he was by her side, and again she felt his soft warm breath in her ear like it always used to be, and she felt her knees melt once more in rebellion against her firmest commands to stay strong.

"Bonjour, Marisol."

"Oh, JP, I thought it was you. Meet Edward Wachowski."

"The name's Eddie," Eddie added in, with a proffered hand and a wary look.

"Bonjour, Eddie. I am JP Arsenault."

"Nice to meet you," Eddie responded, fulfilling all requirements of polite greeting and immediately dropping his hand to his side once more.

"I must say, Marisol, you are looking well."

"Yes, well, you are no longer free to look, JP. Although I must say you are hardly in the shape I left you," Marisol began, looking with a scrutinizing glance. "I don't remember those bags under your eyes. Did that come from many sleepless nights?"

"I'm afraid so," JP admitted, looking almost mournful as he touched under his eyes where there was an obvious lack of any such marks. "It can be tiring to have so much company, but you know me. I love to entertain," he added suggestively with a smirk.

"Ah yes, I do remember that about you," Marisol responded. "Although I'm sure it must get expensive after a while. Not that your mommy and daddy couldn't afford your nightly… escapades, I'm sure," she finished, suddenly becoming very involved with the crowd, waving and throwing kisses, slowly moving down the fence.

"Which reminds me," JP murmured into her ear as he followed, leaving Eddie awkwardly standing on his own. "Your check should be in the mail. If I may make a suggestion, some form of contraceptive might be a wise course of action when it comes to spending it." With that, JP strode further down the fence, waving as he smiled, showing of his white pearly teeth.

Marisol was grateful. It meant he was already well away by the time the tears started welling in her eyes.

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Elise tensed her muscles, gripping the bars on the side of her slot. She felt them coiled and ready to spring. Glancing to her right, she saw Marisol, in a pair of tight white pants and a pink shirt that only covered one arm glide into her slot, putting on a pair of yellow sunglasses as she stared straight ahead.

"Don't break anything on the way down, chicken legs," Elise snapped.

"Oh get over yourself!" Marisol bit back, crouching down as she gripped the bars, with a stern face that continued to only look forward.

"On se calme," a soft voice on the other side of Elise murmured.

She turned her head to see a handsome blonde man giving her a half smile. "I'm sorry, do you not speak French? It means settle down-"

"No, I speak French," Elise assured the man, distracted by a lock of her hair that had chosen that moment to break out of the practically iron strong hold her hair gel normally held, and fall down to tickle her nose. "I just-" somehow, to say 'I was distracted by your good looks' seemed a little shallow.

"Oh, the race is starting!" The man murmured, saving Elise from answering.

Sure enough, the music Karen had warned Elise they would be playing during races had started, followed closely by the red light in front of them turning on. And then Elise rocketed past her metal bars, arm held out on her right so as to protect against any moves by Marisol to knock her over. On her left, the other four racers were out of her peripheral vision, a good sign for the beginning.

A booming noise echoed around the mountain, startling Elise momentarily.

"This is Rahzel, the voice of SSX Tricky! The race is off with the young Canadian Elise Riggs in the lead, while American Blake Peaugh boards close in second, and that is a mighty _lot_ of Blake to be boarding!"

And then she was free falling through the sky as wind whipped the air out of her lungs. She tucked into a forward roll through the air, twisting her body around and forcing her board to follow. She landed with a solid _thump_ and took off, passing the red glass sign proudly bearing the SSX Tricky logo to hurtle down the ice chute of the course while Rahzel dully announced the name of the trick Elise had just pulled.

She whipped through the turns, listening for someone's board besides her own, hearing their dull scratching over the surface, barely audible above Rahzel's voice which was probably a more reliable source for information anyway.

"And now Zoe Payne is coming up past Blake to take second place, though first may be a bit more of a challenge!"

A jump loomed on the horizon, and Elise took the chance to pull one of her favorite tricks, Unethical Experimental. When she landed, there was a dull thump that almost directly followed her own.

"Oh, and Marisol Delgado has come out of nowhere to take second place, threatening Riggs' control of the top spot!"

Elise risked a quick look backward and caught Marisol's determined face staring straight back at her own.

"You know, Marisol, that outfit suits you. Was it cheap?"

"Not nearly as cheap as your hair dye, I'm sure. You could at least get a believable blond color."

Elise noticed Marisol's eyes dart to just beyond Elise and whipped her head back around in time to get some air off of a large jump that was just in front of a crowd hanging over the course. Elise did her favorite trick, the La La Locke Step as light bulbs on cameras flashed. Once she landed, she checked briefly over her shoulder, and noticed Marisol in a struggle to stay upward as the large American boarder Blake attempted to shove her over. His large amount of bulk was winning, and Elise turned her attention to the turn she was entering, satisfied that Marisol would be awhile in catching back up.

A few turns later, Elise felt a solid shove in her side. She veered slightly to her right, away from whoever it was. Looking back with worry at whom she expected to be the big American, she was surprised to see Marisol once more, her left arm held in front of her, and her right out to the side, reaching for Elise again.

Elise gave Marisol wide berth as they went around the corner, losing speed and falling a bit behind. A fork ahead in the trail loomed, and Elise took the right course, hoping Marisol would be content with first place for the time being. But apparently that didn't satisfy Marisol, who was veering to the right, towards Elise and her course. Marisol stayed just out of arm's reach until they were a few feet away from another pane of red glass emblazoned with the SSX Tricky logo. Then Marisol made a swerve to the right, locking arms with Elise and forcing her towards the glass, with a surprising amount of force, considering the girl was just shy of being a full foot shorter than Elise.

Elise wrenched her arm from side to side, but couldn't get free. She finally gave up and Marisol let go, swerving away. Elise didn't have enough time to follow, only getting far enough to avoid hitting the glass dead center and braced to slam into the glass, expecting thousands of tiny sharp shards to flay her alive.

She heard the glass shatter and felt herself being pelted with glass bits, but when she opened her eyes, she was approaching a small cliff, still very much in tact.

"And Elise Riggs has just become the first boarder to find one of only a handful SSX Tricky shortcuts! It looks like Riggs has this heat in the bag!"

Elise didn't react for a moment, as shocked as she was that not only was she not mortally wounded, she was _winning_ again. And then she let out an uncharacteristic giggle in anticipation of Marisol's reaction at the bottom of the hill.

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Author Notes: Hey, I actually continued with the story! Yeah! (I'm sure some of you out there are thinking "She considers it a victory to still be _writing_?! Dammit, I'm not reading this story no more!") It's more a rejoice that I got something done this summer, because I've been so incredibly lazy. I'm going to have so much summer school work to get done in the last month, because I am going on vacation for about two weeks (technically today). So no more story guaranteed for awhile. But I promise it'll keep coming! Lemme know what ya think, if you please (Please be brutally honest. I'd rather get told something I'm doing sucks, sulk, and change it when I've come to my senses than keep writing the same way, suffering under the illusion that I'm doing good.)


	6. Higher Authority

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Author's Note: Howdy howdy howdy! And how has everyone been holding up in my absence? Good? Great? In a slightly better mood than homicidal? Good to hear… So I think it's become rather obvious that no matter how happy, dedicated and inspired I may feel, I still seem to update rather sporadically. I suppose the best thing for you to do if you're the impatient reader type, would be to wait till I include something that says, "I FINALLY FINISHED! I NEVER THOUGHT THIS DAY WOULD COME!" in my summary, and _then_ start reading. If that sounds yucky, I promise that though slow, I'll never just stop writing this. I enjoy SSX characters much too much, and am so ESPECIALLY fond of the evil little plot I've decided on for each and everyone. So yay! Now start reading! (As if you haven't already skipped over this section or clicked 'back')

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JP was feeling a little put off by the results of the race. Sure, he hadn't necessarily expected first place- No, that wasn't true, that's _exactly_ what he had expected. He had of course modified that expectation when he had heard the announcer's booming voice relate that some girl had managed to find a hidden shortcut. However, he had not managed to take second place, either. And so it was that when JP glided into third place, he felt more than a little irritated. _Third does get me into the semi-finals heat, at least. I'll just have to make up for this defeat there._

He removed his designer sunglasses and proceeded to go through the motions of cleaning them, looking up through his eyelashes at the swarm of reporters who were obscuring his view of the winner. _Humph. Enjoy it while you can, because you won't be enjoying that standing for very long_. As he replaced his sunglasses and finally got a chance to see just who was the winner, his scowl faded away. The tall beautiful blonde who had stood in between Marisol and him was relatively easy to see, considering she stood a head taller than many of the photographers and reporters surrounding her.

"Perhaps I'll go congratulate the winner after all," JP mused to himself, a smile slowly spreading across his face. He strode over to the crowd as the last few snowboarders straggled into fifth and sixth place. It only pleased JP more to see that fifth had gone to haughty Marisol, now looking less like a snob and more like the angry alley cat he remembered her as. Suddenly the blonde girl- Eloise was it?- was striding into his field of vision, directly towards Marisol.

As she got close, she reached out and shoved Marisol's shoulder, knocking her slightly off-balance, and causing her to whip her head backwards to glare upward. Behind JP someone growled softly, and when he turned to look, he saw that boy, Eddie, whom Marisol had been fooling with before the race, looking like he was ready to step in and deal with the girl himself.

"What did you think you were doing! I could have been killed!"

JP turned back around in time to catch Marisol sneer back at the girl "Killed? Don't be so dramatic, Elise! The worst you could have gotten were a couple of scratches."

So Elise was her name…

"Scratches? If it hadn't been safety glass, it would have shredded me to pieces!"

"And if you had bothered to pay attention at all during their briefing this morning, you would have known that it was just going to crumble into useless little pieces, instead of being the panicky little mess that you were." Here Marisol stopped her ridicule to scoff, "Of course, had they told us that the surprise behind those glass panes was a helpful one, I would have just crashed through it myself."

"And instead you came in fifth. I'm sure that that just drives you crazy, doesn't it," Elise leaned in, letting the edges of her mouth grow into a satisfied grin.

"Not as much as the fact that a talentless bitch like managed to get into first place completely on luck," Marisol hissed back, raising up on her feet and throwing her head back.

"Talentless? You're the one that came in fifth. Then again, I'm sure you used some very interesting off-the-slope talents to _persuade_ the judges to let you in this competition…"

JP noticed the boy Eddie moving right behind the tall blonde, his hand clenched into a fist. He probably didn't even realize that he was about to let his emotions take control and hit the girl. But JP did.

"Now, now," he said in a calm voice, catching the boy's wrist. "It's not nice to meddle. Let's let the girls finish on their own, shall we?"

The boy merely glared, and for a moment, JP was certain that he would jerk back his other fist and hit JP instead. But then a purring, rolling voice said "Eddie, dear, let's go back to the lodge." Eddie jerked his arm out of JP's grip, following Marisol as she walked by, completely ignoring JP. "Perhaps I can go discuss this with Mr. Harrison. I'm sure he'd be very worried about this horrible verbal assault on a snowboarder that was invited to compete against his fledgling little league!"

To the common ear, it sounded like Marisol had clamed down. But JP had had plenty of time to learn all about Marisol's hidden meanings, and right now that hidden meaning was one of revenge.

"Oh, I'm sure he'd also be worried to hear about how you pushed one of his league members into a glass pane!" The girl Elise shouted, striding after the boy and Marisol.

"How odd of Marisol… she isn't usually so… _controlled_ in such situations… perhaps I should follow and see just what sort of trouble Marisol decides to stir up," JP murmured to himself. And with that, he followed the small procession that was now heading to see Mr. Harrison, owner of the SSX League.

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"Ms. Riggs, I am fully aware that what Ms. Delgado did was questionable at best," Mr. Harrison sighed, trying to avoid fury from both of the temperamental blondes at once. "However, the rules of this snowboarding league do not prohibit nor even discourage such behavior. Jostling is expected in this league."

"Mr. Harrison, that little brat could have-"

He held up a hand to silence the tall woman in front of him. "I can also assure you that the league does not disregard your safety. A pane of glass would never be next to the racecourse. Even if actions similar to Ms. Delgado's were prohibited, there would be accidents to take into account."

He rose, paced towards the window of his office which overlooked the last stretch of the race and the winners' circle below. As he turned back to face the furious snowboarders, another of the snowbaorders, the young blonde Frenchman quietly slipped in the door. _How the hell did I end up with so many blonde boarders?_ "A real pane of glass would simply be too much of a risk factor. Even hard plastic could cause more injuries than this league's administration is comfortable with. Let me assure you, Ms. Riggs. This league's officials, least of all I, do not take the safety of it's members, or guests, very lightly."

"Well, I'm perfectly satisfied with that," the Latina began "I would still like to discuss the personal conduct of Ms. Riggs. She was extremely insulting before and after the race, and assaulted me after race was over."

"Assaulted?! You threw me into that safety glass harder than I touched you!"

"Mr. Harrison, jostling during a race is one thing, but I think normal civilized laws should be abided by when the race has completed."

"Ms. Delgado is correct, Ms. Riggs," Mr. Harrison affirmed, ignoring the angry glare that was thrown in his direction. "Any physical exchanges on the course should be left there. No blows are to be exchanged once the race is over. No matter _what_ occurs during the race. Is that understood?"

The girl opened her mouth angrily, looking as if she was about to reply, before snapping her mouth shut and giving a curt nod.

"Thank you, Mr. Harrison. All I ask is that your members behave in a professional manner," the girl continued.

"As I recall, Marisol, the last time we were boarding against one another, our behavior was far from professional," the young Frenchman in the back spoke up.

The girls and the young boy with the afro spun around. Apparently no one but Mr. Harrison had noticed his presence.

"Yes, well," the Latina girl began, taken aback. "That was different. I'm referring to _Ms. Rigg_'s habit of shouting insults down the mountain like a five-year old."

"I'll remind you that you were shouting them right back, _Ms. Delgado_."

"Ladies, please, if this matter has been settled to everyone's satisfaction, I have work I must resume." Mr. Harrison broke into a smile. "I do have a snowboarding league to run, after all."

The two women nodded curtly, and turned to leave, the two men then following. Mr. Harrison found that the Frenchman was the only one who seemed completely at ease, even continuing to smile in a way that said he found the entire situation humorous. As soon as the door was shut, Mr. Harrison broke into a real smile, leaning back in his chair and rubbing his hands together meditatively.

__

This is better than I could have ever hoped. First race, and already we have rivalries, alliances, and what looks like a broken romance. If I could find a way to market this image…

This may have been Mr. Harrison's first league, but he wasn't without experience. He had done all matter of jobs around the snowboarding circuits, quitting his last post because the man he worked for failed to see the potential of the story behind the snowboarding. Harrison knew what sold. It wasn't the sport. The sport was merely an avenue which the youth used to find what they really wanted. That was the glory, the edge, the sheer hardcore image of extreme sports.

"The harder they try to break from conformity, the easier to predict they get," Harrison chuckled to himself.

Harrison knew he would have to manipulate the league to turn it into the story he wanted. And he was already starting a wishlist in his mind of what he could use to get it.

__

Starting with that little hellcat and her little ex-Frenchman…

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Author's Notes: And that is the latest edition of my twisted story. I think I'm taking too long to get the story good and started. Me and my desire to ramble in detail -- I'll be trying to pick up the pace a bit in the next chapter, so if any of you are getting bored with the apparent total LACK of snowboarding/action of any kind- FEAR NOT! Your salvation is coming! Yay! Ok, back to homework and blowing off homework to goof off. I'll be updating as soon as I can (which is longer than you might think due to my weak will power) Ja!

P.S. some of you may notice I seem to have stopped using the TAB key on my new paragraphs. That's because my dad updated my computer to Windows XP in an attempt to rid my computer of a virus (we think in the end it was the worm). Anyway, XP automatically does something screwy where it doesn't actually register I used tab, which screws up my HTML version of this chapter. Hopefully I'll figure out how to counteract the demon spawn that is updated versions of Windows, and my computer will go back to being helpful. If not, you'll all have to get used to non-indented paragraphs.


	7. It's Getting Hot In Here

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Author Notes: So, I admit it. I have been awfully neglectful of my poor little fanfic for which I have so much love. There are no appropriate excuses. So instead, I think I will tell a major lie and say I was… hit by a car? Yes and in a coma for _months_. And when I woke up, I had amnesia. So uhm, you can see, I'm a survivor, not to be confused with a slacker? (I'm a horrible, awful person)

(side note- I realized I accidentally gave two characters the same last name! And one of them was completely unrelated to the story besides his initial burst of fame. If I gave any of you the impression I was being craftier than I really was, I apologize. If you didn't notice, good, because I changed it already and now you'll never know. Mwahahaha!)

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"If you don't turn those headphones _down_ so help me, Mac!" Elise was beyond infuriated. Behind her brand name sunglasses, she was hung-over. Not that any of the other boarders probably had any idea. She was still looking just as polished and well groomed as always. An early jump on the morning to board the first class section of the airplane had not helped her mood, however.

"Let Buddha give you strength to overcome your surroundings," spoke a calming deep voice from the seat behind Elise.

_What, should I light incense and start humming to myself as well?_ Elise speculated as she scoffed in frustration and launched herself into the aisle. Brodi, the smooth spoken handsome Zen master had been an utter disappointment upon joining the league. One win in the competition on the part of Mac in the show-off division had been enough to impress on the Buddhist to join. Unfortunately, Elise had failed to capture the medal in the racing division in the end. That had gone to the hostile, punkish boarder named Payne. The league had convinced her to join just before the final heat where she had won her medal, so the league now technically had two golds to their name.

Elise peered around the unbearable chattering line to the ladies toilet in the back. Sighing in misery, she leaned against the wall, rubbing her temples in an attempt to stop the pounding.

_"So why did you join the league? I mean, two wins… that's not precisely a fame grabbing record for a league."_

"Fame? I'm not interested in fame. You and the other members of the league give off good stable vibes. A chance to be around such members and a chance to be one with nature on the snow is all I ask for."

"Right…"

"Miss? Miss, are you in line?"

Elise's eyes snapped open as she looked at the middle-aged woman with the poorly dyed hair clutching her handbag at her side.

"No, I'm standing here for the marvelous view. Of course I'm in line!" Elise snapped less than charitably as she swerved to her other side to find the line had moved quite a bit.

Ignoring the indignant chatter of the woman behind her, she focused on the scene her mind had been circling on. An evening spent trying to chat up Brodi only to find just what an intolerable blowhard he was. The shots she had consumed to keep herself amused were the reason for her misery this morning.

Well, she didn't really think so little of him. It was more than a little tainted by her current distress. But he certainly was not a prospect for someone to keep her entertained during her traveling in the league. Pity. She found one night stands so tacky. You could never predict if the perfectly well balanced guy you picked up the night before might turn out to really be a sentimental needy clinger once the night was over. It was always better to have someone with a well-established relationship to go to. Well, a relationship in the sense that they were available for "entertainment" with no strings attached.

Pushing open the door savagely she walked back down the aisle, noting the woman who had been so offended by Elise's outburst had made it back to her seat and was already settled, chattering away like an angry bird to the woman seated beside her. The woman looked up at Elise's approach and her expression turned to one of a mixture of shame and shock as her words died on her lips. It didn't take much of Elise's remaining faculties to figure out that most likely the woman had been badmouthing Elise to her companion. So Elise took great pleasure in saying to her in passing "Just as a bit of friendly advice, I'd pay the extra twenty or so to get that done professionally," as she gestured at the woman's hair. The angry flush that spread across the woman's face as Elise continued on was enough to put her in a good enough mood to ignore Mac's incessant rap on his headphones as she resumed her seat.

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"So, here we are in Japan!" Karen said excitedly as the bus lurched forward on the way to the hotel. "Now, since we're in Tokyo, you shouldn't have too much trouble finding people who can speak English. However, I would advise you to avoid going out into the city alone since you could get lost or end up in a bad part of the city and-"

"Are you our mother or what?" Mac asked, annoyed, earning a chastising smack in the back of the head from Eddie.

Karen tried to laugh it off good-naturedly. "I admit, I have a tendency to baby people I'm in charge of, but the fact remains that what I said was true. You can't depend on everyone in a foreign city to speak your language, and since I doubt any of you speak Japanese-" she paused here to look almost questioningly at Brodi, but when he made no comment, she pressed on "it would be best if there was someone else to help."

"Oh no worries, I always have a friend with me," Elise began with a grin.

"See, that's very smart of you, Eli-"

"It's called a cell phone," Elise said smugly, waving her little silver flip phone where Karen could see it.

Karen sighed and threw her hands up in the air as she sat down in her seat on the bus, muttering.

"What'd you have to go and do that for?" Eddie asked Elise, annoyed.

"Oh please, it was just a little joke, and if she couldn't take it-" Elise stopped mid-retort as a grin spread across her face. "Why the concern? Does little Eddie have a crush on pretty Karen?"

Eddie scoffed at her in disbelief. "Just because I care about someone besides myself doesn't mean I have to have a crush on them. It just means I have common decency. But I guess you don't work that way, huh?"

Elise gave a sour smile and turned to look out her window. She was doomed. Absolutely no prospects in the entire lot of them.

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Zoe stretched from side to side, twisting her short frame and relishing the pops she received from her spine in return. She didn't want to fuck up on this jump, since Snowdream from what she saw only had the one good one. It may only be a practice run, but that didn't mean she felt like having a dull run down the mountain with nothing but boring 360's or maybe 450's the whole way down. She bent her neck over to her shoulder, closing her eyes as she wrinkled her nose in an expression of her opinion of the peppy music that was playing over the loudspeakers. When nothing happened, she sighed, took her head in her hands and forced it down a little farther until she heard another pop.

Satisfied, Zoe went back to stretches that didn't bother the tall blonde behind her who was expressing her distaste in her finely arched eyebrow. On the other side of the warm-up area, unbeknownst to Zoe, someone was watching her pre-run ritual with fascination. Moby had never seen a girl who he wanted to have a drink with more, and at the same time, thought he had absolutely no chance with.

"This is what I get for coming to the states," he muttered to himself. Looking back over his shoulder, he began making a show of stretching out his leg so the little twat Mac would stop giving Moby an obnoxious grin while making obscene gestures at the young punk border across the snow. "Get lazy since my accent does most of the work, when the girls worth any effort aren't impressed by that sort of thing," he continued mumbling.

Finally he moved forward, ready to start his run down the mountain. He glanced one last time over to where the girl had been stretching, only to realize she had already left while he had been busy pretending not to look at her. _Guess I did a better job at pretending than I thought_, he laughed to himself as he jumped a little to get himself going.

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Elise sped down the slope and towards the jump. Belatedly she noticed Moby was just behind her to the right. _He better not run into me at all_ she thought bitterly. Her hangover was still not completely gone, although the cool wind and the meds she had taken as soon as they had landed had helped.

Luckily though, Moby seemed just as intent on avoiding Elise on the mountain as she was to avoid him. Though the two of them were never out of view of one another, they both acted as though the other wasn't even there. All in all, it was also turning out to be one of her better runs. _I wish it was that prick Wachowski instead of Jones, so he could get an idea of how impossible it would be for a klutz like him to beat me. Or better yet, that bitch Delgado._ Her eyes narrowed and she crouched a little closer to the ground as she got angry thinking about the day in Harrison's office.

__

I never did learn that other boarder's name, she thought distractedly, thinking of the tall blonde Frenchman. And suddenly she pulled up short, her eyes wide behind her designer frames in disbelief as there before her was the blonde boarder, with a smug smile on his face, arguing with the boarder Payne. From the vast amount of powder that covered Payne's back and her angry shouts, she could guess what had happened.

"Eh, knock it off!" Payne screamed as Elise noticed Moby pulling up short nearby. "I could have run into the rocks!"

"Well then maybe you should learn to keep your hands to yourself while you're racing," the Frenchman responded.

"Are you talking about Garibaldi?"

Elise vaguely remembered something about one of the boarders having been close to passing Payne towards the end of the course in the final heat when they had been shouldered out of the way. Sizing the two of them up, Elise would never have guessed the short girl could have pushed the tall boarder over.

"Ah yes, you Americans are intelligent ones, aren't you?"

"Oh sod off, you great girly git," Moby snapped.

The two boarders looked up, having noticed their audience for the first time. Payne seemed indifferent, but the blonde changed instantly, giving a great big white smile. "Ah, Ms. Riggs, is it? I don't believe we truly met at the last course. I am JP Arsenault." He slid forward with his one free foot in order to shake her hand, blowing right past the disgruntled Payne.

"Yes, that's right," Elise responded, offering her hand in return. "Elise Riggs."

The girl, realizing it was pointless to continue her spat, merely pushed off and headed down the hill, hitting snow off her back. Moby almost immediately pushed off and sped after.

"I hope my quarrel with Ms. Payne did not offend you?" He asked, again flashing her his white grin.

__

What a stupid question. He must associate with some real money, Elise thought as she responded, "Not at all."

"Well then perhaps you'd care to finish your run with me and allow me to buy you a cup of coffee to insure no harm done?"

"I don't see anything wrong with that," Elise replied with a smile that JP readily returned. Together the two pushed off down the mountain as Elise gave a satisfied smile. _Perhaps I have some prospects after all_.

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****

Author Notes: Wahoo! I finished something! Yippee!

I actually have a lot written besides this. I wrote quite a bit after being liberated from exams this week (I actually have one left, but it's music theory. I think I'm safe.) The only problem being my mind doesn't work in nice orderly fashion. So the large part I have written are a bunch of jumpy scenes that will get placed in the appropriate places of my story line once the OTHER appropriate parts have been written. So that really doesn't leave me much better off than before My mind rarely seems to follow coherency or even the natural flow of time. Because, you know, that's _boring_. What really helped organize me despite my spaz-ness following exams was reading all my old reviews that are still lying around. Each and every one makes me feel oh so fuzzly and special. Please leave any comments, including ones that tell me how I'm an awful writer and I should be ashamed, because I like honesty.


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